Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who has drawn the ire of Donald Trump and top Republicans, earned himself a new nickname from the president Monday morning.
“Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!” Trump tweeted.
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The congressman fired back Monday morning, responding to the president’s tweet by writing, “Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of ‘Executive Time.’ Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or…really anything else.”
Schiff’s dig about Trump’s “executive time” comes from a January report that claimed the president often spends the first few hours of his day without meetings, instead watching TV and tweeting about his accomplishments and political enemies.
Schiff, who first joined Congress back in 2001, has been a thorn in the president’s side as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and more recently as the leading Democratic voice against the controversial Nunes Memo. The document, released Friday, has become a partisan flashpoint, with Republicans asserting that it shows blatant abuses of power by both the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Democrats, often led by Schiff, claim that the memo is misleading and intentionally omits certain facts. They have called for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee to allow a Democratic counter-memo to be published.
Schiff continued his criticism on Sunday morning. Appearing on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Schiff reiterated his belief that the memo “was a political hit job on the FBI in the service of the president.”
In addition to the recent partisan squabbling over the Nunes memo, Schiff has remained persistent in his insistence on a full investigation into potential ties between Trump and Russia and recently stated that he believes Republicans on his committee lack commitment to finding out the truth.
In a series of tweets in December, Schiff said that he thinks there is a concerted GOP effort to kill the credibility of the investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller and that Republicans intended to “shut down” the House Intelligence Committee’s probe.
“I’m increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House Intelligence Committee investigation at the end of the month,” Schiff tweeted, before launching into a list of reasons supporting his rationale. The list included claims that Republicans refused to call “dozens of outstanding witnesses” to testify before the committee.
The congressman’s vocal opposition to the president has raised public conjecture about his future, with many discussing the possibility of Schiff seeking a higher office. Asked about that in January 2017, Schiff did not rule out the possibility.
“At some point, I may certainly entertain running for statewide office,” he said.
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